Meet Andreas Melbostad, the man behind Diesel Black Gold

Having become an undeniably huge force on the jeans scene since in launched in 1978, Diesel launched Diesel Black Gold in 2008 as its catwalk-focussed counterpart. Initially headed up by designer Sophia Kokosalaki, the label quickly differentiated itself from its older sibling by concentrating on super-premium materials, inventive cuts and experimental twists on classic streetwear items.

When Kokosalaki left her position in 2012, Norwegian designer Andreas Melbostad took the wheel of womenswear, before becoming creative director of menswear too in 2013. Formerly a designer for big names like Yves Saint Laurent and Calvin Klein, he has expertly built on and refined the brand’s aesthetic so that today Black Gold isn’t merely an extension of it famous forefather solely for dedicated brand fans, but a fully fledged fashion line in its own right with serious style punch.

We sat down with Melbostad while he was over in London to talk through his latest line for summer, who the best denim-wearer of all time was and his take on the big gender-fluidity boom.

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Andreas Melbostad

First up, why is the label called Diesel Black Gold?

Andreas Melbostad: Because oil is sometimes called “black gold” - not because we use a lot of black and gold in the collection!

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The big news with menswear and womenswear is gender fluidity. Where do you stand with gender fluidity at the moment with your brand?

I’ve always been super inspired by menswear for womenswear so in terms of that, the code and inspiration of it was very familiar to me. I’ve always borrowed little bits from the women's collection for the men’s, not necessarily because I’m taking feminine codes and introducing it to men's, but more in terms of how I start to play with the silhouette. However, within the men’s collection there has to be a sort of realness to the guy, there has to be a sort of masculinity to him for Diesel Black Gold.

In terms of the show, we’ve had conversations about potentially showing [men’s and women’s] together in the future, but we’ve made no final decisions because it’s a situation we have to study quite carefully - what does it mean in terms of press attendance, when do we sell the collection, what would be the right timing?

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So you haven't had thoughts on what Burberry are now doing and what Gucci are now doing merging their men’s and women’s shows?

For me, if we ventured into it as a company we would have to be ready. There’s a lot of great ideas and there’s good reasons for [merging a brand’s shows], because you want to be more fast to reach the consumer and you want to open the dialogue [about your brand] in a different way - but to actually execute this is super difficult. [For example], you end up going to the website to buy it during the show, but you receive it three months later - that’s not so easy.

Diesel is perhaps primarily known as a denim brand. Have you faced any challenges trying to carve a new identity for Diesel Black Gold in its own right?

For sure. On one hand we have the benefit of having a brand that people associate a certain attitude with, a sort of identity, and we tap into this with Diesel Black Gold - but in a very different way. However, lots of people expect a sort of casual type of product and our aspiration is to make a more designer, advanced, contemporary product. It takes time to educate the consumer and it’s been a process of of finding the right product to do that with. We don't want to overlap, but we also want to stay very true to the intention of Renzo [Rosso - founder of Diesel]. The great thing is that we can be much more flexible with Diesel Black Gold than they can at Diesel because that company is very established and follows certain codes - and has to be very careful about how they move. We can allow ourselves a new approach.

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What is the main way you differentiate Diesel Black Gold from the main line?

I think that the codes and the influences are very much the same, but how we approach to the product is different. We play more with identity from a designer perspective with Black Gold - the collections are maybe more studied in terms of the cut, structure, and silhouette. They are runway collections so we don’t want to do a catwalk show just to show product, we also want to tell a story. I’d say it’s a little cleaner too. Diesel is very famous for its denim treatments and washes - but when we play with denim it’s more about the cut, the construction, the fabrication and possibly embellishment. And there is an added sartorial element to the collection - we like something tailored or structured mixed with something more urban.

How do you stay inspired?

You have to constantly resource. There are certain products we create and recreate over and over again. I think we do maybe ten to twelve biker jackets for men four times a year, so I have to keep thinking what can a biker jacket be for us.

Do you ever use Instagram or Pinterest to inspire you, or are you more old-school?

A mix of things. I have to say I do a lot of my research online, definitely. I travel a lot - I have a lot of jet lag and sleepless nights, so a lot of my research happens when I’m in Europe and I don’t sleep at night! Suddenly I have five extra hours where I can really just explore some thoughts without having to have a real purpose. I love research where you find a thing that leads to the next thing and you keep unravelling things. I’m also obsessively collecting books that are very specifically speaking about biker jackets…

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What was the last book you bought?

AM: I’m addicted to Amazon and I buy books all the time. I always tell people about a series of books by Japanese author Rin Tanaka: My Freedamn!. You can have a book just on biker jackets or you can have a book just on Hawaiian shirts or on a counter culture movement. I’m very inspired by those iconic sort of items, so for me as a series of books it’s perfect - I can look at them every season.

And finally, who is the most stylish man to ever wear denim?

AM: I think I would go with like a really sort of American icon like Rock Hudson.

Meet Andrea Rosso, the man taking Diesel way beyond denim

Diesel's head of licensing, Andrea Rosso, has one of the most high-stakes jobs at one of the world’s most powerful fashion brands. We sit down with him to talk interiors, smartwatches and the best-dressed footballer on the AC Milan team